What Are Some Key Components of Military Job Descriptions?

Military job descriptions vary greatly based on a variety of factors, including the military branch and the nature and rank of the job; for example, an administrative position in the United States Navy is likely to have a much different job description than that of a combat specialty officer in the U.S. Marines, notes the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Administrative positions in the military have job descriptions that include data maintenance and accounting work, while combat positions focus on using weapons and engaging in actual warfare. Additionally, rank can have a large impact on job descriptions because an officer's job typically includes some sort of management and planning responsibility, while enlisted military personnel typically focus more on taking and carrying out orders than planning them.

Military personnel fill a wide range of jobs, from medical care roles to vehicle maintenance and even media and public affairs, notes the BLS. Each of these jobs differs in many was from the others, and there is no one way to describe all of these different careers. Enlisted health care personnel typically provide low-level medical care, from emergency care to blood draws and other routine diagnostic tasks. Health care officers are typically full-fledged medical professionals such as dentists, psychiatrists and pharmacists, and these military personnel are often more directly responsible for patient care than their enlisted counterparts.